After some food and rest, I'm feeling better. My head still aches, but it is manageable now. Manning is still being a pain.
"Why haven't they gone away?" he asks, staring at the tangle of Wyrms. "You healed them all."
"We healed the ones with bullet wounds," I answer. " The main reason they came here hasn't been dealt with yet. There's still the baby that was burned."
I sit on the bumper of one of the trucks watching them, wondering how to proceed. I look up into the sky and see vultures circling over the tangle. They smell death approaching. Every once and a while, one of the Wyrms will leap into the air snapping at the birds. But the birds just fly a little higher and continue to circle.
I finally make up my mind. I stand and start walking across the desert toward the tangle again. Even though it's the middle of the day, it's pretty darn cold. I stick my gloved hands into the pockets of my jacket and keep walking. Shortly after I leave the others, I hear footsteps behind me. I try and "feel" who it is, but I come up with nothing. That means it can only be one person. I take one of my hands out of my pocket and hold it out behind me. A moment later, Abe takes it as he easily catches up to me. We walk together in silence.
We finally reach the place that we were earlier and stop. I send out the tendril of energy again. This time the male that was first healed answers my call.
What do you want? He asks, not unkindly.
"We'd like to see only one not healed," I tell him.
You cannot.
"Why?" I ask.
His parents will not allow it. Even we cannot get close to him.
"I would like to speak to his parents. May I do so?"
I do not know. I will check.
He turns and heads back to the tangle. Abe pulls on my hand to get my attention.
"Yes, love?"
"I don't like this. What good will talking to the parents do if they won't let their own kind near their baby?"
"I'm hoping to at least see if the baby can be saved," I tell him.
"But you don't think he can," he finishes for me. I just shake my head.
"I hope I'm wrong," I say. "How did you know that the parents are barring the others from seeing the baby? I thought you couldn't hear them."
"I can't," he simply says. He holds up our joined hands. "However, I can hear them through you."
The Wyrm returns.
Since you healed so many of our kind, they are willing to let you see them.
"Thank you," I reply.
Please, follow me.
He turns and dives underground, only to reappear about ten feet away. We follow him toward the tangle. Abe takes a tighter grip of my hand.
"Abe, please loosen your grip," I beg. "You're cutting off the blood to my fingers."
His hand loosens a little, but not by much.
"What's wrong?" I ask him.
"I don't like this," he says.
"I know," I respond. "But it has to be done."
He doesn't respond, but continues to walk beside me with a near death grip on my hand. As we approach the tangle, Wyrms start to move out of our way. After we pass, they close up the area behind us. We're completely surrounded by giant moving bodies. As we walk, I can smell a foul odor that gets stronger as we continue on. Several minutes pass like this until we finally reach the center of the tangle.
Two adult Wyrms are lying on the ground with a much smaller Wyrm between them. The smell of burnt and rotting flesh is strong here. At first I think they're already dead until I notice the parents raise their heads and extend their fringes. I also notice the smaller one move slightly and I can hear him whimpering in my mind. His brown hide is covered in burnt skin, blisters and festering wounds. The sight of him makes me want to cry and the smell of him makes me want to gag.
Can you heal him? The father asks.
"I don't know," I answer.
You healed the others, says the mother.
"Their wounds were not as extensive," I explain. "May we please be allowed to see him?"
Only if you promise to heal him, the father demands.
"I cannot promise you that," I respond.
Promise you will help him, orders the father.
"I will do what I can for him," I tell him.
Promise us! They demand in unison.
I stare at the two of them. The mere thought of making a promise that I can't keep scares the living daylights out of me. But if it's the only way to get to the baby, then I must make it.
"No," says Abe. He yanks me around until I'm facing him. I had forgotten that he was even here.
"I have to, Abe," I tell him sadly. "It's the only way for us to get near the baby."
Without waiting for a response, I turn toward the waiting parents and say, "I will do everything within my power to ease his suffering. This I promise you."
There's a slight tremor and a dirt devil kicks up with me in the center. When everything calms down again, I can "feel" a bond between the parents and myself.
The parents part and let us pass. Abe walks past me, his hands are balled into fists and I can see he's shaking. He's angry about what I've done, but there was no way around it. I watch Abe walk around the baby Wyrm. He finally finds a spot that's not so badly damaged. He kneels down, removes his gloves and places his hands on the youngster. A moment later, he removes his hands. I can see defeat in his body language. Then he looks at me and shakes his head.
"The damage is too great," he says sadly. He looks back down at the baby. "He is going to die."
YOU PROMISED US! The parents yell in unison.
"I promised to ease his suffering," I reminded them. "I never promised to heal him."
How can you ease his suffering if you can't heal him? The father demands.
"By ending his suffering," I tell him.
Abe's head snaps up and the adult Wyrms, including the parents, start to wildly dive in and out of the ground. I move closer to the baby. He may be only a baby but he's still ten feet long. Abe quickly gets up and comes to me. Wyrms continue to move around us.
"I won't let you do this," he says.
"You have no choice," I tell him. "I made the promise and I must fulfill it."
"Then break it," he orders. The thought of breaking a promise is more frightening then not being able to fulfill it.
"I can't," I reply. "You should probably leave, Abe."
"I'm not leaving you, and you're not doing this," he snarls. He reminds me more of Hellboy right now.
"I have no choice," I repeat. "It must be done, and it must be done by me."
"I forbid it," he orders.
"What gives you the right to order me to do or not to do anything?" I ask him angrily.
He grabs my left hand and pulls off the glove. He forces the back of my hand to mere inches from my face.
"This does," he says.
The parents emerge on either side of their child. I can feel the bond between us pulling me toward them. I turn to go to them, but Abe grabs my arms again in a bruising grip. I break his grip on me. Then I grab his right wrist and force his hand palm side up. I then put my most valued possession in it and then close his fingers over it.
"You should leave now," I tell him as I let him go. The male that led us here appears next to me. I turn to him.
"Can you see that he gets safely back to the others?" I ask the Wyrm.
Of course, he answers. He suddenly lunges and grabs Abe around the middle in his mouth. Abe starts struggling and yelling. As the Wyrm carefully moves through the tangle, I can hear Abe calling my name and I can feel my heart breaking. Even if I do survive this, I doubt he'll ever forgive me for what I've done. I turn and approach the parents.
"You have a choice," I tell them. "You can release me from my promise and let him die a slow painful death. Or you hold me to my promise, and I end his suffering now."
The parents look at each other and then look at their child. I can feel the emotional pain they're suffering through our bond. I feel a tear travel down my cheek.
He is our first, the father quietly says.
For the first time, I see the youngster open his eyes. They're clouded over with pain.
Mama, he says in a small pained voice. Make the pain go away.
Hush, little one, she croons softly to him. It will be over soon.
Please make it quick, the father begs. All I can do is nod as more tears follow the first.
I take several deep breaths to regain my control, and then I open myself to the power of Wind and Earth. I bring in the power to me until every nerve in my body is tingling. It fills me with a sense of euphoria that I've never felt before. I idly wonder if an orgasm would feel this good. I pull in more power than I've ever done before. Just before I lose control of it, I focus it and send it into the heart of the baby Wyrm. The baby gives one last whimper and then he sighs his last breath. As I sink into oblivion, I can hear the cries of heart breaking anguish emitted by the parents and echoed by the rest of the tangle.